Manjhi targets Nitish, says 'our legislators received death threats'

Jitan Ram Manjhi, who stepped down as the chief minister of Bihar on Friday, alleged that his legislators and ministers were given death threats ahead of the trust vote.

"The legislators and even the ministers received death threats and even threatening messages. Even I received death threats which you all know about," he said.

Manjhi also hit out at senior Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar for remaining a silent spectator to the entire episode and accused him of trying to remote control his government.

"Nitish ji acted like 'Bhishma Pitamah', he did not utter a word when I was not allowed to do any work," he told a press conference.

Manjhi said that he made an appeal to Bihar Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi to allow for secret voting, but added that there is no constitutional provision for such an arrangement.

The ousted JD-U leader also played the Mahadalit card, saying he was victimised because he belongs to the most backward caste. Manjhi, who stepped down hours before seeking a trust vote on Friday, further said that he told the Bihar Governor to accept his resignation to prevent the pure atmosphere of the parliamentary system.

"Our people could have voted for me if they didn't have fear of cancellation of membership. So, I requested the Governor to accept my resignation in order to prevent the pure atmosphere of the parliamentary system."

Manjhi was locked in a showdown with Nitish Kumar, who had handpicked him to take his place last year.

The BJP had asked its 87 MLAs to vote in favour of Manjhi while the JD-U, RJD, Congress and CPI had issued a whip to its legislators to vote against him. The Bihar Assembly, meanwhile, has been adjourned sine die after Manjhi's resignation.